aaamusic | On 25, Feb 2011

Jeff Beck paid fitting Tribute to Les Paul last summer, celebrating what would have been the pioneering guitarist’s 95^th birthday by playing his friend and mentor’s music, along with classic tunes from the era, in the same Times Square nightclub that Paul played every Monday for 14 years before his death in August 2009.

Sponsored by Gibson Guitar and billed as “A Celebration of Les Paul,” Beck was joined by The
Imelda May Band at the Iridium Jazz Club in June 2010.  Other guest performers joining Beck onstage included Brian Setzer, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, and Trombone Shorty.

To better understand the reason of this so desired tribute think that  Jeff Beck introduced Les Paul at Paul’s 1988 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by saying “I’ve copied more licks from Les Paul than I’d like to admit.”

The vintage essence heard on many of those early Paul/Ford numbers is captured beautifully, particularly due to the selection of the performers. Vocalist Imelda May chose to pre-record many of her backing harmonies, effectively mimicking the complex, Andrew Sisters-like sound that Ford created. The back-and-forth play between May and Beck on such numbers like Poor Boy, How High The Moon, and “Tiger Rag” is both engaging and fascinating to listen to.

The album starts with a lash of pure rock’n’roll, Beck pays tribute to the outstanding contributors to the birth and spread of, rockabilly,  rock’n’roll jazz and blues. You can find classics performed during the years by Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Priesley,  or Cream, like  Sitting On Top Of The World, beautifully sung by Imelda May, whose voice seems to follow and melt with the guitar slide.

In female choirs for Bye Bye Blues the listener can feel all the nostalgia who pervaded jazz singers in 50s, every song melts into the follower creating a sonic harmony that makes feel your heart light.

Jeff Beck’s mastery has no rivals and the sound of Les Paul is so distinctive that you realized that it characterized most of the music created in last sixty years.

Vaya con Dios is simply melting, I can imagine Mexican people doing their siesta under the hottest sun ever, relieved only by this sweet music.

Every song would deserve a mention for the high level of performance, the accuracy in arrangements and the will to put up a tribute show with all their heart, but I think it’s better if you push play and start to listen to this masterpiece.

Author: Roberta Capuano